Monster Mint-Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Roar.

My husband, the monster:

Did you know I was once married to Frankenstein? It’s true! Long before Bella Swan made it fashionable to marry a ghoul, Frankie and I had a one-night stand. I dressed up as the Bride of Frankenstein for Halloween and created a stuffed monster “husband” to carry around all night.

In case you’re curious, here’s a photo of us.

Although we didn’t stay married long (irreconcilable differences), I think Frankenstein would approve of the following mint-chocolate cupcake recipe. Whole-grain, and lower in fat and sugar, these are much healthier than your average cupcakes. And yet, they taste just as delicious.

As I said in yesterday’s post, these cupcakes were made for a good friend’s kindergarten class. I so wanted to throw some spinach in them, to see how they’d turn out. But I didn’t have enough time to make a second batch if the experiment failed.

If anyone is feeling adventurous, please do try adding spinach… and let me know how it goes!!

Monster Mint-Chocolate Cupcakes

(Makes 12 cupcakes)

• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (regular or dutch)
• 1 cup flour (I used white-whole-wheat. You can use all-purpose, spelt, or even ww pastry.)
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sugar or evaporated cane juice
• 1 and 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 and 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp pure peppermint extract (or 1/2 tsp, if you only want a very-slight mint taste)
• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt of choice (such as SoDelicious)
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 3 tbsp oil (coconut or veg or canola oil)
• optional: add a few handfuls chocolate chips to the batter!
• 1/2 cup milk of choice

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients, then add wet. Don’t overmix. Pour into cupcake liners or tins, and bake for 18-20 minutes. (Mine took 19 minutes.) Nutrition Facts per cupcake: Each cupcake will have around 130 calories and three grams of fat, depending on what yogurt you use.

Cupcakes in the photos are topped with this recipe: Mint Chocolate Chip Frosting.

For a Mint-Chocolate Parfait:

Try crumbling this over Mint-Chocolate-Chip Ice Milk.

Or skip the parfait idea and just cover these babies in devilishly-delicious green frosting. With chocolate chips. Don’t forget the chocolate chips.

Question of the Day:

Do you remember any of your childhood Halloween costumes?

Some of mine: a Martian beauty queen, devil in a blue dress, purple-people-eater, monster chef, dust bunny (French maid with bunny ears), sand witch (sandwich), and “Indecisive” (where I wore a little bit of everything I could find. That one was really fun). I always hope that one of my friends will throw a party, so I have an excuse to still dress up even though I’m obviously way too old for trick-or-treating. I still have no idea what I’m going to wear to this year’s Halloween party.